Progress In Meditation Is Linear Therefore One Must Feel Deep Peace

Does EVERY meditation have to go DEEP in order to be classed as a meditation?
Is there a point when you never have to paddle in the shallow end again?
How do you progress in meditation?

Advanced, experienced meditators find some days they are unable to get to the deeper states they have experienced many times. This notion, of meditation practice leading to deeper states and then you never have to go back to battling a busy mind, is a myth (until you reach Tranquil Abiding).

An expert in meditation is such, not because they never have a busy mind but because they have stopped struggling, have done their time in meditation, and never given up on the process. I tend to talk about meditation as a process because, as a process, you do not have to worry about the goal being achieved (this creates stress). Instead, your goal is to meditate (without expectations) and meditate some more – thereby giving your mind and body the chance to heal your stress – which leads to experiencing peaceful states (but not all the time).

I liken it to a game of snakes and ladders (see my future post on this), because although it may seem as if you are climbing the ladder of success with your meditation (for a little while) it is inevitable you shall land on a snake and feel like you are back to the beginning. Some days you are up then, for no apparent reason, your struggling to find the peace you expect. This is completely NORMAL.

On the days when your meditation sucks, it gives you a chance to practise patience, to be gentle with yourself and use mindful awareness while relaxing into the tension created by expectation.

My definition of meditation is: “A family of intentional activities that produce psychological changes“. The “family” is the 3 (or more) DNA strands that make up meditation. So, if you are intentionally using the 3 core DNA strands* of meditation – to try to relax, and focus on trying to observe your stresses and strains (expectations?) – then you are meditating, even though it doesn’t feel like it.